April 19, 2011 — As panic sets in, many hope temperatures slow to rise Bv JESSICA MILLER By JESSICA MILLER Standard-Examiner staff jmmiller@standard.net MARRIOTT-SLATERVILLE — While many Utahns are longing for warm spring temperatures, officials with Marriott-Slaterville are crossing their fingers, hoping for just the opposite. Their reasoning: Rapidly rising temperatures could lead to further flooding in the city, said City Administrator Bill Morris. - A quick- melting mountain snowpack could add more problems to an already supersaturated landscape. Weber County Sheriff's Lt. Mark Lowther said at 8 p.m. Monday he was told the Weber River had reached 25 feet, which filled the river from bank to bank. By Tuesday afternoon, the water had risen an additional 2 feet and was spilling into nearby fields. Fields near 3650 W Pioneer Road had anywhere from 2 to 3 feet of standing water. Dozens of volunteers were filling sandbags around a nearby subdivision Tuesday, trying to beat rising fioodwaters before they could enter basements and cause more damage. "We're trying to get in, get organized and get done," said Dixie Little, the Community Emergency Response Teams coordinator for the city. Little said they have recruited people through calling trees to assist in flood control. "We're trying to get all the people we can to come down and help us," she said. Many of the homeowners who have been there for some time remember similar flooding from 1983, Little said, but others are A car drives through a flooded area of Pioneer Road in Marriott- Slaterville on Tuesday. in newer homes and are in a panic with the threat of rising water. She said people may call her at 801-731-4859 to get plugged into volunteer opportunities. Lowther said anyone living in an area threatened by flooding should move valuables and furniture out of the basement or away from areas that could be affected by fioodwaters. Morris said homeowners near 2800 West are waiting to see if further flooding could put their homes at risk. Whether the flooding is at its peak or the worst is yet to come is a mystery, both Lowther and Morris said. Lowther said Monday's warm rainstorms caused significant snow- melt, which contributed to Tuesday's swelling rivers. More such days could increase flooding, as could a quick rise in temperatures. The ideal situation, Lowther said, would be cool, gradually rising temperatures. Officials experienced trouble near 4500 W. 1200 North in West Warren after logs and debris jammed the river. Weber County Sheriff's Sgt. Lane Findlay said a field upstream from the jam had four times as much standing water as it normally does. The jam was broken up by using heavy equipment to get the logs floating down river later Tuesday, Lowther said. The sheriff's office also closed Pioneer Road to deal with potential flooding near 3650 West, where the swelling river threatened five or six homes. Law enforcement expected to work on barricading the river throughout the night. NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner 45